In A New Light
by Hikari Shindo
Summary: Kurama rescues an injured girl from a river, but when she knows an old friend of his, things really get stirred up and confused. Is it always that easy to tell friend from foe... or must it just be seen in a new light...Kurama x OC
1. Who Are You?

**Chapter 1**

**Who Are You?**

"Mom! Wait mom, don't leave me! Don't leave me…" Fifteen year old Shuichi called out as his mother died in his arms under the giant willow tree near meadowlark stream.

Shuichi then woke up in a cold sweat. "Just another nightmare," he told himself as he lay back down, but then he began to wonder why he was having these dreams; after all, his mother's death was two years ago, but still. Shuichi was unable to go back to sleep, so he decided he would pay a visit to his mother. He got dressed, walked down to the giant willow and, despite all efforts, began to cry.

He had been sitting there for no more than ten minutes when he looked up and saw a girl clinging to a fallen log for dear life. She had long black hair and was wearing a long black leather coat that shone red in the sunlight, a red shirt underneath, blue jeans, and appeared to be unconscious.

Shuichi quickly waded into the water and retrieved the girl. She was extremely cold, but still breathing, so he proceeded to take her to his house to watch over her.

For three days she did not wake, but finally on the third day, while Shuichi was sitting by her bedside wondering where she was from, she looked at him and asked, "Where am I? Who are you, and where is that fiend Kuronue?"

"Did you just say Kuronue?" Shuichi asked startled.

"You know him! How dare you keep me locked in here while he catches up to me again." She cried angrily.

"Wait a minute. Calm down and let me explain."

"Okay then, explain."

"My name is Shuichi, or Kurama, for those who know me well. I used to be a clever fox demon and specialized in opening locks and stealing the treasures they guarded. Kuronue was my partner. He and I were unstoppable together, but one day, our luck ran out and Kuronue was caught in a trap. I turned to run back and help him, but instead he told me to run. That day, he sacrificed his life for mine. Later, after stealing yet another treasure, I was shot by a hunter and would have died had I not escaped from the demon world, or Makai, into the human world. I thought Kuronue was dead. In fact, I was sure of it."

"Well he's not OK!" The girl retorted.

"Who are you anyway that you are running from Kuronue?"

"Well since we're in the habit of formal introductions, my name is Valentine Higurashi. I was on a mission to prevent a very important member of our mortal female demon tracking squad from dying about two years ago because she was an essential undercover spy for us. Unfortunately, I failed and Kuronue caught on to my trail. He was the most notorious demon that we had been tracking."

"So Kuronue's after you because you know where he is?"

"Exactly. He is also the same demon who killed your mother because she too knew his whereabouts."

"Houd did you know that she was my mother?" Kurama asked growing suspicious.

"I knew because the DDC has had their eyes on you and your mother for quite some time now."


	2. Agent 313

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter up, but we've been having final exams and reviews and stuff...

"Gomen" Sorry

**Chapter 2**

**Agent 313**

"So then if they've had their eyes on us for son long, how come you didn't recognize me at first. Secondly, I've never heard of this DDC organization either."

"I personally haven't met your mother, besides the photos in her file, and I've never seen you before. Secondly, the DDC is a new agency for tracking down criminal demons. By the way, may I call you Kurama, or am I to call you Shuichi?"

"Call me Kurama." He said giving Valentine a chilling look, and still somewhat suspicious of this awkward situation, but he cheered up and asked her, "Well, Valentine do you know where Kuronue is now?"

"Not exactly… all I know is that he caught on to my trail about ten miles upstream." She replied.

Kurama and Valentine searched for nearly three months for Kuronue, but nothing ever turned up.

"Valentine, haven't you been able to contact the DDC yet?" Kurama asked impatiently.

"No, like I told you before, something is blocking my transmission."

"Attention" Agent 313, we have some information on the demon you have been tracking." The radio said suddenly coming to life.

"Who's 'Agent 313'?" Kurama asked.

"Shhh. That's me. Now will you please be quiet so I can hear what information headquarters has for me." Valentine answered in an annoyed tone. Valentine listened to the radio through a special sound proof earpiece, so that no one could hear her conversation with the DDC headquarters. Finally, after listening to the transmission for about fifteen minutes, Valentine ended the conversation.

"Well, did you get any information on Kuronue's location?"

"Absolutely, he is somewhere around that giant willow by the stream. The only problem is that they know I'm with you, Kurama, and they want me to kill you because it's too risky for us to be partners. Kurama after these months of searching and getting to know you, I could never do that, so after we exterminate Kuronue, you must run away from here. I'll tell the authorities at the DDC that you escaped my grasp. Okay?" Valentine said almost in tears for having to tell Kurama this.

"I could never leave this place, it was where my mother and I lived, but that's enough of that subject," he was growing angry, "Right now, we have to go meet Kuronue." Vengeance running through his mind, he stood up, grabbed Balentine's hand and took off running for the giant willow.

Valentine was able to keep up with Kurama's pace most of the way to the willow, but about two-thirds of the way…

"Kurama… slow down… I can't keep up anymore." She yelled as she stumbled and fell.

"Gomen, Valentine, I forget that you can't go as far as I can." Kurama said holding his hand out. As Valentine stood, she felt a sharp pain in her leg, let out a small yelp of pain and fell forward. Luckily, Kurama caught her, but when he looked down to see why she had fallen, he saw that her jeans were torn from her knee to her ankle, and blood was running down her leg and dripping onto the ground. He bandaged her wound with a piece of cloth that he happened to have. "Here, I'll carry you the rest of the way so that we won't further injure your leg."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can carry you." He said as he knelt down and picked her up.

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A/N: That's it for this chapter... Thanx to all of you who reviewed! It is much appreciated!


	3. Her Death

A/N: I know I usually don't post A/N but this chapter is special! I'm trying to add a little more to the tension in the story. I'm trying out a new idea courtesy of MoonFox531. Thanx for the idea!

**Chapter 3**

**Her Death**

Valentine rested her head on Kurama's back and buried her head in his rose scented hair. She could hear his slow controlled breath, and feel his long stride. However, the twenty-five minutes it took them to get to the giant willow passed far too fast, and the moment was over. Kurama gently set Valentine on the grass near the stream and then began frantically searching the area. As he searched for Kuronue, he felt a hand on his shoulder, "What happened to your mother?"

"We were standing here watching the swans, when she was shot in the back by a poisoned arrow. She died almost instantly in my arms."

"I'm so sorry… I didn't know…" Valentine whispered.

"Well then just don't bring it up again." Kurama said turning to face Valentine as a lone tear rand down his face.

Valentine was embracing Kurama in hopes of comforting him, when he felt a sudden sting in his shoulder and looked over to see the tip of an arrow sticking through his shirt. He fell forward into Valentine, who gently laid him on the ground. She quickly broke the back end of the arrow off so that it wouldn't get caught on anything as they made their escape. She lifted the half conscious Kurama to his feet and putting his arm over her shoulder and her's around his waist, she began the long walk towards Kurama's house.

"It's dangerous to walk, Valentine, we should move faster." Kurama said between weak breaths.

"Don't worry, we're safe for now." She said as Kurama completely lost consciousness.

By the time they reached his house, Valentine was exhausted from carrying Kurama. 'He's heavier than I thought he would be.' She thought to herself as she sat Kurama in a nearby kitchen chair. She removed his shirt and tore a strip off of it to be used as a bandage. Valentine put her hand on Kurama's shoulder, as close to the arrow tip as possible, and removed the arrow. The pain was enough to force Kurama to regain consciousness. He cried out in pain. Valentine proceeded to sloppily bandage the wound. After doing so, she took Kurama to his room and laid him down to rest.

When Kurama finally fell asleep, Valentine received another transmission… from Kuronue.

Determined to find Kuronue, she quickly set out for the giant willow, but when she got there, he was just standing there.

"Long time, no see… Valentine." He said without turning around.

"Your plan's not gonna work. He's too suspicious, and besides, it wouldn't look convincing if I didn't put up a fight." She pulled the pistol form her pelt and shot Kuronue in the back. He fell to one knee.

"How Dare You!" Kuronue jumped up and back-handed Valentine. The force sent her flying into a nearby tree, and she fell unconscious. He tied Valentine to the trunk of the willow and sent a bat to lead Kurama to him.

When the bat finally found Kurama sleeping in his bedroom, it telepathically told him that if he didn't go to the giant willow now, Kuronue would kill Valentine. So, despite the pain of his wound, the hindering effects of the poison and the red light going off in his mind, Kurama quickly got out of bed, slipped on a clean uniform shirt, stepped into his black shoes and ran out of the house after the bat.


	4. Why So Angry?

**Chapter 4**

**Why So Angry?**

When he finally got to the giant willow, he was exhausted, but determined to slay Kuronue at any cost.

"What's the matter? Why are you so mad at me… partner?" Kuronue taunted. Valentine, who at this time had a rather large gash in her forehead from being knocked against the tree, turned to look at Kurama, but saw that his brilliant green eyes were no longer soft and friendly; they were narrow and as cold as ice.

"I am mad at you for murdering my mother and injuring this young woman and at myself for not being able to stop you." When Kurama said this, he threw his long, red hair back and brought his hand back to his side holding a beautiful, red rose.

'What's he gonna do with that?' Valentine thought. Before her eyes, though, the beautiful rose turned into a long, green thorn whip. Valentine watched as the two former friends battled, she was amazed at how gracefully Kurama moved. He was dancing a fatal, yet majestic dance. Kuronue, on the other hand, wielded a scythe on the end of thin wire with deathly precision and little subtly. Unfortunately, because of the poison, with every attack Kurama made, he became weaker and most of his attacks missed. On the flip side, Kuronue was making just about every attack connect with its target.

The battle continued for what seemed, to Valentine, to be an eternity, but finally after only about thirty minutes of fighting, Kurama stood shakily in a pool of his own blood, and Kuronue was practically untouched. In a final attempt to win, Kurama attacked, deliberately missing with his whip, and hitting Kuronue with a small pebble.

"You were going to kill me with a pebble!" Kuronue laughed.

"You misunderstand… the pebble was simply a diversion. You see, as the pebble hit you, you were busy paying attention to it, and once your guard was down, I planted the death seed within your body. Now at my will you shall die.

"Y-you wouldn't kill your old partner, would you?" Kuronue said nervously.

"Not so brave now, are you? You killed my mother, and have threatened Ms. Valentine's life on more than one occasion," Kurama said enraged, "…now you must pay. DIE!" When Kurama said this, red beams of light began to shoot from Kuronue's body, and in a matter of seconds, a beautiful bush of black and red roses was growing from Kuronue's corpse.

"It's amazing that something so beautiful can come from such evil." Kurama said as he cut the final rope holding Valentine. Suddenly, Kurama felt a sharp sting in his chest… it was Valentine's dagger.

"I'm sorry Kurama, but I couldn't just let Kuronue's plan fail." Valentine said pulling her knife from his chest.

"Why Valentine? Why? I thought you were an agent for spirit world." He said, spitting blood on the ground.

"The DDC never existed. I only ever received false transmissions."

"Then why didn't you just let me die when I was wounded by Kuronue the first time?"

"Because he knew that the poison wouldn't kill you and decided it would be nice to finish you off himself. Now Kurama, you will soon meet your mother. I'm really sorry we didn't meet under different circumstances." Valentine raised her dagger to finish off Kurama when, suddenly out of the nearby bushes came a fast flying arrow that went through Valentine's raised hand. She screamed in pain and quickly fled.

Kurama tried to get up to see who was in the bushes, but he stumbled and fell. His vision began to blur from the blood loss, but he was able to see a young girl with flowing brown hair come running towards him.

"Hold on Shuichi, I'm here to help." Kurama's clothes were blood soaked and blood ran from his mouth.

"Who are you?" he said weakly.

"My name's…" but he was unable to hear her name, he blacked out.


	5. My name is Hikari

**Chapter 5**

"**My name is Hikari."**

Kurama awoke several days later in a bed that was not his, and a home that was not his own. Most of his wounds had just stopped bleeding.

"So you're finally awake," said a young lady's voice. Kurama looked over to see a young woman of about 16 years old with long brown hair smiling at him. Then he noticed the school uniform that was identical to the ones that all the girls wore at his school.

"I'm sorry, but I seem to have missed your name last time…"

"Hikari Shindo." She interrupted. "My name is Hikari."

"Why did you save me? You know you could have been killed." Kurama said with a confused look.

"Actually, I happened to be walking toward the stream, Shuichi, when I saw you fighting with that guy with the long black hair, black lace-up vest, and scythe. I was going to practice my archery, but decided that it would be a bad idea to let my presence be known, so I hid in the bushes, then when that girl, Valentine, I think was her name, tried to finish you off I decided to take the shot.

"Do I know you form somewhere, by any chance?" Kurama asked curious why some stranger would do something like that.

"I'm actually in every single one of your classes, Shuichi." Hikari said realizing that, just like everyone else, he had never noticed her.

Then Kurama remembered. He had seen her. She was the girl who always sat silently at the back of the class. She never said a word to anyone save, the teacher, and to him the only thing she said was good morning or afternoon. She didn't appear to be very confident at school, for she always wore her hair down in her face and avoided eye contact with everyone. But now, as she looked at him wondering what he was thinking he could see that she had beautiful, gun-metal gray eyes.

"You know you really shouldn't stare at the floor all the time. You have the prettiest eyes." Hikari blushed and turned away. "So how long have I been out?" Kurama asked.

"Umm… let's see, about nine days I think." Hikari said, looking at the calendar on her wall.

"Wow! That long!" Kurama said quickly sitting up. "Ugh." He groaned putting a hand over his stomach. Fresh blood seeped through Kurama's shirt. Hikari walked down the hallway to the bathroom where they kept all the medical supplies and returned with gauze and alcohol.

"Shuichi, if you'd remove your shirt, I'll bandage those wounds for you." Kurama reluctantly undid his shirt and handed it to Hikari. She set it on the chair she had been sitting on, making a mental note to either wash it or get a new shirt later. "This might sting a little." She said touching the alcohol soaked gauze to the dagger's exit wound on Kurama's back. He shivered but simply said that it was the cold liquid on his skin. Hikari put some bandages on the wound.

"Shuichi lay down so I can work on your other injuries." She put her arm around his shoulders and eased him back o the bed. He winced slightly as some of the wounds pulled open again. "I'm sorry." Hikari said as she began cleaning his chest wounds.

'She hasn't called me Kurama at all. I guess it's true that she only knows me form school.' He thought.

"That girl, Valentine, she called you 'Kurama'. Why?" Hikari inquired, pausing a moment to gauge his reaction.

Kurama had been waiting to see if she'd ask that question. He sighed, "Kurama is my true name." When he saw the confused look on Hikari's face, he proceeded to tell her the same story he had told Valentine.


	6. Better than a C

Hikari: Sorry i haven't updated ina loooonnnngggg time, but between summer camps, trips, and what not i've not had anytime...

Kurama: Band geek...

Hikari: Psh... shut up... as if you had anything better to do than read... ... Hope you enjoy this chapter and i appologize for the length... ja ne!

**Chapter 6**

**Better than a C**

In a hidden cave at the edge of town, Valentine sat on a rock nursing her wounded hand. "I'll get her for this," she cursed. She only looked up when she heard footsteps coming up behind her. Valentine saw that the footsteps belonged to a tall silhouette. It reached for her as it stumbled forward. "Stay where you are! Don't come any closer!" She yelled shakily.

"V-Valentine… help m-" It said, falling heavily to the floor.

Valentine gasped, pulling her hand to her mouth as she ran to the blood soaked figure. She quickly undid his black lace up vest and let his long, black hair loose. He was breathing heavily, and his pulse was weak.

"I thought you were dead…" she wept. "You're going to be okay. I promise you… Kuronue…"

Hikari finished bandaging Kurama's wounds just as he finished his explanation.

"Well," she said thoughtfully, "May I call you Kurama outside of school, and I'll call you Shuichi at school?"

"That'll be just fine," he said with a half smile. "I'm going to have a lot of homework when I get back, and I bet my friends must be worried." He thought out loud

"About your homework…" Hikari said trailing off.

"Yes."

"I've been typing it up so Mr. Nakano can't see the difference in handwriting and turning it in for you."

"You what!"

"I hope they're up to your standards." She handed Kurama a stack of graded papers.

Kurama took the stack and began studying the work. They were straight hundreds, nothing less. He looked at Hikari confused. "You've never gotten more than a C or high B."

"I've never tried." Hikari looked away embarrassed. I'm going to the park to study, tell me the names of your friends, and I'll tell them you're okay if I see them." She smiled and picked up her backpack.

"I'll go with you…" he said attempting to get up, only to fall back with a yelp of pain.

"I think you should stay put for at least one more day." She said laughing to herself. Hikari walked over to her desk and again proceeded to ask Kurama for the names of his friends.

Kurama thought carefully, and then gave her the names Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, and Kayko Yukimura.

" _The Yusuke Urameshi_!" She said in disbelief as she finished writing the names on a sticky note.

"The one and only," He responded, "and…" as if reading her mind, "They also know me as Kurama."

"Hey! Are you psychic or something!"

"Quite possibly…" He added with a smirk.

"Anyway, I'll be home in an hour to make us something to eat."

"What time is it now?"

"Five o'clock." As she said this she turned to walk out of the room.

"Hikari, wait!" Kurama called after her. She froze. "Thank you, for everything."

"No problem." She said giving Kurama a sweet smile. And with that she spun on her heels and walked out of the room, before anyone could notice the rosy tint take over her face.

Kurama heard her walk down the stairs, then open, close and lock the front door.

No sooner had she left, that a little black demon figure was standing on the window that had been left open next to Hikari's bed.

"So this is where you've been hiding fox…" It said seriously.


End file.
